Direction-indicator.



M. COLBY.

DIRECTION INDICATOR.

APPLICATION men MAR. 24. I915.

1,,Q33Jfi9g, Patented July 10, 1917.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 10, 1917.

Application filed March 24, 1916. Serial No. 86,523.

To all whom itmay concern:

Be it known that I, MELVIN COLBY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Mt. Horeb, in the county of Dane and State of Wisconsin,have invented certain new and useful Improvements inDirection-Indicators; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

This invention relates to improvements in a direction indicator forautomobiles,

vice, whereby an operator of the automobile may notify the traffic inthe front and rear thereof, his intended turn curing one of thedevicesto the front rear of the automobile.

Another object of this invention is to provide a frame, having a casingto, which is provided with an opening to display direction indicatingsymbols when brought in registration therewith, to notify the trafficthe direction which the automobile is going to turn, either to the leftor right.

A further object of this invention is to provide a pair of armsjournaled on a transverse shaft, having plates or disks secured to theirfree ends which bear the symbols R and L, either one of which areadapted to swing in view of the traffic through the opening in thecasing.

A further object of this invention is to provide a pair of solenoidsoperatively connected to the arms for raising the arms up wardly tobring the direction symbols in view through the opening in the casing,upon energizing the solenoids, which may be in circuit with thelightingsystem now employed upon automobiles.

' A further object of this invention is to provide a novel means oflockingthe arms in a raised position, and which is; capable of releasingthe arms to allow them to return to and their normal position uponenergizing a P2411,

of magnets. V v

A still further object of this invention is the provision of a directionindicator of the above stated character, which shallbe simple, durableand efficient, and which may be manufaotured and sold at a comparativelylow cost.

With these and other objects in view. as will become more apparent asthe description proceeds, the invention consists in cerand has for itsprimary object to provide a de-" of travel, by se-- secured there arms 9and 10. respectively.

tain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement ofparts as will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

For a complete understanding of my invention, reference is to be had tothe follow ing description and accompanying draw-- ings, in which Figure1 is a front elevation of a direction indicator, constructed inaccordance with my invention,

Fig. 2 is a plan view with the casing and magnets removed,

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view, illustrating one of the arms lockedin a raised position, a

Fig. '4: is a fragmentary transverse sectional view, taken on the lineA& of Fig. 3, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.v

Fig. 5 is a-fragmentary sectional view, illustrating the 7 connectionbetween the solenoids andthe arms, and

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatical view of the wiring diagram.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the numeral 1 indicates a frame,having a bottom 2 secured thereto and acasing 3 which is providedwith anopening 4:, that isclosed by a piece of glass 5. A transverse shaft 6 issecured to the sides of the frame 1 and adjacent one end thereof, andhas journaled thereon collars 7 and 8 to which are secured The'arm 10 isbent as illustrated at 11 to allow the free end to extend in parallelalinement withthe arm 9 and in close relation thereto. Secured to thefree ends of the arms 9 and 10 are .circularfdisks or plates 12 and 13and the disk 12 has the symbol R painted thereon or applied in any forthe word right. The disk 13 is pro vided with a symbol L, which standsfor the word-left. Either of the disks 12 or 13 are adapted to be swungupwardly in rear of the opening 4: to display the direction symbols R orL by an electrical means, which will be hereinafter more fullydescribed.

A transverse rod li'is secured to the sides.

of the frame 1 intermediate the ends thereof and has secured thereonbrackets 15 and 16 to which are secured solenoids .17 and 18, havingcores 19 and 20. The cores 19 and 20 are each provided with one of theirends bifurcated to receive the ends of connecting links 21 and 22 whichare secured at theirother ends to the collars 7 and 8. The solesuitablemanner, standing noids 17 and 18 are in circuit with the lightmg systemof the automobile and are each controlled'by'a cause the arm 9' to swingupwardly and display the direction indicating symbol R through theopening 4 of the casing 3. To

display the direction indicating symbol L, the solenoid 18 is energizedand-the arm .10 will swing-upwardly upon the transverse shaft 6.

In order to lock either of the arms 9 or 10 i a pair of magnets 23 is aspring pressed 1n a raised position, adownwardly' inclined block 23 issecured'to one side of the frame 1 adjacent the transverse rod 14and'has' se-' cured-thereon a bracket 24, which supports Secured=to theblock armature plate 26' Which-overlies'the end of. the-magnet and hassecured thereto an arm 27 'The' arm27 is offset as illustrated at 2-8and twisted to providealocking plate 29,-which is notched to form ashoulder 30, which will engage either ofthe arms 9 or 10 anddock them ina raised position, thus continuously displaying either ofthe direction.indicating symbols R or'L.

The magnets 25' are in circuit with the lighting-system of theautomobile and -are"controlled'by a push" button, whereby thecir c uitto the magnets '25 may be closed or completed upon pressing the pushbutton and the reach of the operator return} conductor 361s"connected'to the push push button 35, the 1 gized 1 and cause thewardly and display the'direction indicating spring pressedergizedand'release either of the arms 9 or 10 and allow them to returnto theirnormal position by gravity; v 7 Referring to the wiring diagramasillusvtrateol iii-Fig.6, it con'sistsof'astorage bat tery 31; whichmay bethestora'ge battery Y automobiles for furnishing current for'thelighting system. ductor 32- is connected to the storage battery employedon A' conreto, a conductor 33 ductor 3 1 is connected button 3 5 and tothe storage battery 31, whereby'upon closing thecircuit through thesolenoid will be ener symbol A conductor 37 is connected to theconductor32 andto the solenoid 18.' A'- I conductor SSfiscOnnected tothe solenoid 18 and to the push button 39, a'rrangedadja- 'c'entfthepushbutton 355 A conductor 40 connects the push button 39 withthe returnconductor-136' and upon closing the circuit armature plate 26 will been-" arm" 9 p to swing up through the push button 39, the solenoid 18will be energized and cause the arm 10 to swing upwardly and display thedirection indicating symbol L. The conductor 32 is connectedto themagnets 25 and said magnets are connected to a push button 41 arrangedbetween the push buttons 35' and 39, by a conductor 42. A conductor 43connects the push button 41 with the return conductor 36 and by closingthe circuit through the push buttonll, the magnets 25 will be energizedand=attract the springpressed armature 26,- causing the locking plate 29to move and release the arm 9 or 10, whichever may be lockedin a'raisedposition.

An electric lamp socket is secured to the casing- 3 adjacent the opening4 and has secure'd therein an' electric lamp for illuminatin'g'thedirection indicating symbols at night. The electric lamp receiveselectricity from the lighting systemof the automobile.

lVhile' I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of myinvention, it will-be understood that minor changes in the construction,combination and arrangement of parts may be made without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

Having thus described myinvention, what I' claini is:

A direction indicator comprising a frame,

aca'singsecured'to the frame and'having an opening, a transverse shaftjournaled in said frame below-said-opening, horizontally dis posedsolenoids pivoted to the frame at one end thereof and a't'a point belowand laterally of said shaft, arms pivoted to the shaft and normallyextending horizontally in the by the arms, cranks secured to the armsand to the coresof the solenoids, means for energizing the solenoids toswing-the arms upwardly in the casing and bring the direction indicatingsymbols in viewthrough the opening, a block secured-to the frame,magnets carried by the block, a resilient arm secured to the blockandoverlying the'magnets, a catch formed on said arm and extend ingupwardly within the casing to engage the first mentioned arms when swungupwardly Within the casing, and means for energizing the magnets to freethe catch from the first mentioned arms to permit said arms to return toa horizontal position.

In testimony-whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

- i MELVIN COLBY Witnesses: I

I. Foss'HAcn, CARL OoLBYi (toplesnf. thispatentniay be ohtainedfor fivecents each, by addressing the Gommissioner of Patents, r washin gtonrDc.

rame, direction indicating symbols carried

